Ukraine says ‘biggest blow’ in counter-offensive yet to come, ‘tough’ to advance

The “biggest blow” in Ukraine’s counter-offensive against Russia is yet to come, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar said on Monday, but added that it was difficult for Ukrainian forces to advance as Russia gathered all its forces to stop the offensive.

“The enemy will not give up positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel. This is exactly what is happening now,” Malyar said on Telegram.

“The ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks. They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come,” she added.

Malyar stated that despite Ukrainian troops making advances in several directions of the south, Russians were concentrating a lot of their efforts in the east and continues to advance there. “For the enemy, the main direction of attack is there [east], because the aggressor does not abandon the goal of reaching the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”

Therefore, the fiercest battles were taking place in the east and south of Ukraine. In the south, Ukrainians were facing minefields, kamikaze drone, and anti-tank guided missiles.

Earlier, Malyar reported that the battles on the eastern front were especially “difficult,” as Russia’s forces were massing large numbers of troops on that front in an attempt to reclaim the initiative.

She also highlighted that Ukrainian troops have reclaimed eight settlements over the two weeks since the launch of counter-offensive operations to reclaim territories currently under Russian control.

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